Did You Know?: Purdue Card Services

Faculty and staff have access to many free and discounted
products and services on and off campus, and it’s as easy as showing your
Purdue ID card.

Gas prices too high? Leave the car at home and hop on one
of the many city or campus buses to get around. Fido needs a checkup? Show the
card and get a 10 percent discount on most services at the Purdue Veterinary
Teaching Hospital.

Heather Powell, Card Services office manager who
brings 15 years of university card services experience to Purdue, says that the
faculty and staff ID cards are similar to those issued to students but with
added bonuses.

“Like students, faculty and staff have the ability to load
money on their Purdue ID card through BoilerExpress,
a debit account, to purchase meals and snacks in campus dining facilities,”
Powell says.

There are no sign-up fees, monthly charges or interest
charges. No minimum balance must be maintained, and any balance left at the end
of the year will roll over to the next year. All it takes is an application and
a minimum $25 deposit to enroll.

In addition the PUID card allows faculty and staff to use
University facilities, including libraries and, for a fee, the Recreational
Sports Center.

Off campus, discounts have been
negotiated with a host of businesses through the Clerical and Service Staff
Advisory Committee. These include select apartment complexes, auto repair,
restaurants, cellular services and much more.

Powell hopes the future will bring many more uses for the
PUID card that will simplify purchasing at more places.

“We are currently replacing the software that underlies
card production,” she says. “As we do that we will be able to expand where the
card can be used.” For example, if there’s a department that sells items, Card
Services will be able to set up an account that will accept the PUID and
BoilerExpress, eliminating the need to handle cash.

“It’s more secure and creates an easier reporting structure
for departments,” Powell says.

Powell says Card Services is currently in negotiations with
a vendor to provide this software and is close to signing a contract.

“This is an incredibly large undertaking because it touches
so many areas of the University,” she says. “I am very excited about the new
possibilities and look forward to a launch in 2013.”

One of the added bonuses of the new system will be the
ability to set up a BoilerExpress account online, something that isn’t
available at the present time.

“When the new system is in place, everyone will have a
BoilerExpress account but there won’t be value unless money is placed in it,”
Powell says.

Future plans, Powell hopes, will include being able to use
your card in the bookstores, spirit stores and other locations. “We hope to
expand the use to truly make it a Purdue card that will work across the city of
West Lafayette,” she says.